Former NFL wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. is known as a fiery commentator now. His takes at times are over the top, but he gives an honest perspective. The former Carolina Panthers star appeared on 106.7 the Fan’s BMitch and Finlay Thursday and was very open about a lot of topics surrounding the Washington Football Team.
One topic was the predictability of Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner. Smith said Turner only knows one offense.
“But Scott Turner is a really good offensive coordinator for what he knows — he knows one scheme,” Smith told Brian Mitchell and JP Finlay. “And when you only know one scheme, that can get you in trouble, because you’re only gonna go back… you have too much film on you. You have film that, one, you can’t evolve; you have no new wrinkles that are shocking. And long term, you’re always gonna fall back and run the exact same stuff.”
“Scott Turner’s offense, Jason Garrett’s offense and a few others are all from one guy: [Norv] Turner,” he continued. “They all have been there, and they’re all running some type of version of it. And I hate to say it, all those guys are not damn successful in the last two years, are they?”
Norv Turner, Scott’s father, coached Jason Garrett in the NFL while Norv was an offensive coordinator and Garrett a backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s. As Garrett transitioned into coaching, he ran the same offense of Turner’s.
Scott Turner ultimately grew up within the offense and has run a similar if not same scheme. He replaced his father as the Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator in 2019 following the firing of head coach Ron Rivera.
Rivera was hired by Dan Snyder to be the head coach of the Washington Football Team in January 2020. Rivera brought Scott Turner to his staff in Washington along with multiple former Panthers assistants.
Washington’s offense has had its share of struggles. To be fair, injuries over the past two seasons at quarterback have hampered any progress. Turner has had to start five different signal callers. None of which are considered a franchise quarterback.
But, there is a stigma that follows Turner as well as the offense he calls. His inability to evolve could lead to Washington’s offense being stagnant now and beyond.
Smith played 13 seasons with the Carolina Panthers. The final three were under Rivera. Two of which Scott Turner was a quality control coach there. So there is some knowledge and insight from Smith.